The World Bank said on Sunday it would send a technical team to Iraq to assess the task of rebuilding the economy but the news came amid criticism that a weekend of meetings had focused too much on Iraq and overlooked poor countries.
After a week of debate, World Bank President James Wolfensohn said bank shareholders decided at a committee meeting the institution should send a technical assistance team to Iraq to assess the task of reconstructing the economy. He did not indicate when such a visit would take place.
PHOTO: REUTERS
"We were so authorized [on Iraq] ... they made very clear that that was what they had in mind," Wolfensohn told a press briefing after a development committee meeting of the bank's shareholders. "There isn't any doubt about it."
Wolfensohn said repeatedly last week he had not had any request from the bank's 184 shareholders to get involved in rebuilding Iraq and was waiting to be asked before acting.
But it was unclear if there was agreement among members as to whether the mission would go before or after it has been decided how the UN would be involved in the reconstruction effort.
The statement issued after the meeting said simply: "We support a further UN Security Council resolution."
The attention given to Iraq detracted from discussion on how to reduce poverty in other countries.
On Friday, African ministers pleaded with rich countries to make sure funding for education, the fight against AIDs, health and clean water was not forgotten in the rush to rebuild Iraq.
Wolfensohn said the meeting had gone "further than others" to focus on the "other war" -- poverty.
But nongovernmental groups said that the weekend was a "wasted opportunity," with no evidence of progress in helping countries other than Iraq.
"It's a clear case of money for the war, but nothing for the poor," said Phil Twyford, advocacy director of the charity Oxfam.
The world's economic ministers "strongly reaffirmed" their commitment to meeting global goals of halving poverty by 2015, but gave no clear plan of how these will be achieved.
The World Bank has said that wealthy countries must double annual aid contributions if the goals are to be met, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa where the challenge of reducing poverty is the greatest.
Trevor Manuel, South Africa's finance minister and development committee chair said it was important Iraq did not eclipse the problems of other countries.
"I don't think we should look at Iraq to the exclusion of everybody else," he said.
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